Truth • Liberty • Integrity

Movies are an art form, one that can make us feel so many emotions in such a short time span. Where else can we experience high-quality visual storytelling to capture our imagination? In a book perhaps, but not just any book. This book details the history of a movie so bad that it is internationally recognized as a passion project gone wrong that ends up being funny.

Enter The Room, the famously infamous bad film and the book, The Disaster Artist, written by Bay Area native Greg Sestero. Greg details the nights and days leading up to the release of The Room along with his friend, the infamous Tommy Wiseau. Together, they embark on a strange journey through Hollywood, their dreams and themselves.

For those who do not know, The Room was a film released in 2002 and was directed by Tommy Wiseau, who is also the main character in his own movie and lists himself as Producer and Executive Producer. The film became a laughing stock among the movie-going communities. Thanks to the internet, it became widely known as one of the worst movies ever made. Greg Sestero is an actor in the film and has since written the book, The Disaster Artist.

The Disaster Artist is told from Greg Sestero’s point of view and alternates between The Room’s production and his increasingly complicated friendship with Tommy Wiseau. He also dwells on the mystery of Tommy’s origins. His thick Eastern-Europe, French-ish accent is already confusing enough, but it is also detailed that Tommy Wiseau has an insane amount of money within his reach.

The book also details what life was like during the production of The Room, from the insane working conditions to Tommy Wiseau’s nearly insane persistence. Fans of The Room will surely get a kick out of the on-set hijinks that had occurred.

The Disaster Artist will surely keep you interested all the way to the end as Tommy Wiseau’s questionable antics keep getting crazier and crazier.

The Disaster Artist has since been adapted into a feature film, starring James Franco. It has been nominated for an Oscar for best-adapted screenplay and won a Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a motion picture for comedy or drama. James Franco was there to accept the award as was Tommy Wiseau.

Greg Sestero and Tommy Wiseau recently reunited in a new two-part film series called Best F(r)iends. The first part was shown for a limited time on March 30 and April 2 in theaters, the second part will also be a limited time movie event with two screenings on June 1 and June 4 at your local theater.

Avengers Infinity War has been called the most ambitious film in history and for a good reason. The film is the culmination of 18 films and over ten years of build up. But does it live up to the hype? In short, yes.

Spoilers!

I’ll get the bad out of the way first, as with all modern Disney movies the humor is hit or miss and jokes can be made a little too often, but none felt that bad. Peter Dinklage as a giant Dwarf, which I’m guessing is a pun on a Giant Dwarf star… haha. Well in a movie of awesome special effects you could just tell he was green screened in. Finally, the scene where Star-Lord held a gun to Gamora’s head while Thanos urged him to shoot reminded me too much of the time when I met my girlfriends’ parents.

Also if you haven’t seen all the Marvel movies, you may have a hard time keeping up. This isn’t necessarily a negative, but I definitely wouldn’t classify it as one of the movies strength.

Now time for the good and there is a lot. All the characters seem to stand on their own, and none feel like their personality is sacrificed for someone else’s plot. Thanos may not have the best motivation, but he is an absolute joy to watch on screen and is easily the strongest Marvel cinematic villain so far. There were a lot of ways this movie could have gone wrong or fell flat, and it didn’t.

On a personal note, I went into the movie wondering “could Thanos beat up the Hulk?” And the movie answered it in about five minutes.

The Marvel cinematic universe is on full display, proving it can do its self better than all the imitators. Like the Laughably bad DC universe with Batman vs. Superman, arguably the worst thing ever made by a human. Or the tragically bad Universal Dark Universe, where they butcher the classics, like Brendan Fraser’s “The Mummy Returns.” Marvel even proved they could do dark and gritty better than those, with the boldest ending I’ve ever seen in a Disney film.

Even characters whose movies I didn’t particularly enjoy like Dr. strange were a joy to watch in this movie. But not everyone is created equal. The Hulk is about as disappointing as my statistics test.

I asked Chabot students what they thought and Jennifer Mendoza a two year undeclared, major said: “it was awesome, the action never stopped.”

Cameron Hernandez, a first-year biology major, said: “I was expecting it to be one of the best movies of all time, I guess I went in with too high of expectations.”

Currently the fifth highest-grossing film of all-time, as well as the highest-grossing film of 2018. There was a massive line to see it a week after it came out when I went to see it. So the outlook is pretty good for Disney as this film continues to smash records.

After more than forty years, the murderer of 12 people and perpetrator of at least 50 violent sexual assaults has a name and a face. His name is more than some catchy moniker, by which to remember his crimes. His face is not just a vague, cartoonish sketch.

The Sacramento District Attorney’s office has identified Joseph James DeAngelo as their suspect for the Golden State Killer’s crimes.

DeAngelo, a 72-year-old resident of the Citrus Heights suburb of Sacramento, was arrested on April 24, after law enforcement agencies conclusively linked his DNA to genetic materials recovered from the crime scenes. Although DeAngelo has only been charged in four of the murders so far, Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said, “there are many [more cases] that match by DNA, and it is the same DNA as found in those that have been charged [in the current case].” This means that there will probably be many more charges pressed and crimes cleared in the coming days and weeks, as the cases progress.

The leads resulting in DeAngelo’s arrest came together in a unique way. Contra Costa County Investigator Paul Holes took an unorthodox approach: he uploaded the unknown suspect’s DNA profile recovered at one of the crime scenes to the GEDMatch genealogy website. GEDMatch is different from other genealogy services, like Ancestry or 23AndMe, in that users’ genetic info is open source. This lack of privacy protections, like those in place at other genealogy firms, made it easier for law enforcement to find relatives of their suspect.

It was four months, from the time of law enforcement uploading the DNA profile to the arrest of DeAngelo. In that time, investigators located distant relatives of DeAngelo who had uploaded their own DNA to GEDMatch. Detectives used this information to build a family tree and eventually homed in on DeAngelo, who was still living in the area where many Sacramento crimes took place. Police put DeAngelo under surveillance and were able to obtain a discarded DNA sample of his, which proved a perfect match to their suspect’s profile.

The Golden State Killer (GSK), who was also called the East Area Rapist and the Original Night Stalker by various law enforcement agencies, committed 12 murders and upwards of 50 violent sexual assaults between 1976 and 1986. These crimes took place over ten counties throughout the state, which confounded the investigations for a time; sheriff’s departments in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties had no idea that their then-unconnected suspects were indeed the most prolific serial rapist in Sacramento. That is until DNA profiling became a ubiquitous research tool for criminal investigators. Then the picture emerged of a serial killer and rapist who had been operating across hundreds of miles and evaded capture, sometimes just barely.

Law enforcement confirmed that DeAngelo is also suspected in the crimes committed by the so-called Visalia Ransacker, a serial burglar responsible for over 100 crimes in 1974 and 1975, in Visalia, California, a small central valley town more than 200 miles south of Sacramento.

The Visalia Ransacker was said to be motivated by more than theft: he would sometimes opt to steal heirlooms and personal mementos in lieu of cash or valuables. This behavior was also a part of the Golden State Killer’s MO. The Visalia Ransacker would commit what are called “hot prowl burglaries,” wherein the thief deliberately enters the home while its occupants are inside, adding to the risk and, possibly, the thrill.

The Visalia Ransacker is the suspect in a murder as well. A pistol stolen in an earlier burglary was the weapon used to murder Claude Snelling. Snelling, a journalism professor at College of the Sequoias, was giving chase after he found a man attempting to kidnap his daughter.

This connection between the Visalia Ransacker and GSK cases was just conjecture on the part of armchair detectives and internet sleuths until Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones confirmed the link during an April 25 press conference. Visalia Police Department representatives have also stated that they believe that, with DeAngelo arrested, the Visalia Ransacker has been caught.

This November will mark the 30th anniversary of the kidnapping of Michaela Garecht. She was nine years old on November 19, 1988, when she was abducted by a stranger in broad daylight from a grocery store parking lot on Mission Boulevard.

That morning, Michaela and a friend were riding their scooters down to Rainbow Market, currently Mexico Super. They parked the scooters in the store’s lot and went inside to buy some candy and treats. When they returned to grab their scooters, Michaela’s had been moved and laid beside a parked car. She walked over to retrieve it, and a man came out of the car and grabbed Michaela. He pulled her into the vehicle with him and sped away, careening down Mission Boulevard. Michaela’s family has not seen or heard from her since.

Michaela’s friend saw the whole kidnapping play out. She gave police a description of the abductor: tall and slender, in his twenties, with shoulder length dirty blonde hair. His face appeared scared with pockmarks or broken out with acne. The car he drove was described as a dinged and scratched up tan sedan. Some witnesses reported seeing flecks of white paint spattered on the car’s exterior.

Most child victims of kidnapping are taken by people who are known to them: parents or relatives. Michaela’s was a stranger abduction, rare occurrences which account for less than one percent of child kidnapping cases in the US. Hayward Police immediately began their investigation. They sent officers to her home that day, collecting evidence and asking questions about Michaela, her friends, her habits.

The Missing Persons Project, a now-defunct advocacy group, also got involved the day of the abduction. They sent representatives to Michaela’s parents’ house, where they set up a command post. They installed a new phone line, dedicated to fielding calls about Michaela, the case, and any information from the public. Local news stations sent reporters to cover the initial investigation and search efforts.

Despite this prompt response, the police were not able to apprehend the kidnapper that day. In the days that followed, they conducted searches near the kidnapping site, and private citizens helped, scouring the undeveloped foothills east of Mission Boulevard. No substantive leads turned up.

Time passed. The searches died down. The investigation dwindled.

The police received 5,000 leads in that first year alone. A composite sketch of the kidnapper was drawn based on the witness descriptions and was disseminated on TV news. Posters with Michaela’s picture were posted around town, on bumper stickers and at police stations and in post offices.

Michaela was a typical nine-year-old. She was an intelligent little girl, enrolled in the Gifted and Talented Education program at her elementary school. She wore her blond hair in a short bob with bangs. She had blue eyes and a bright smile. That is how her mother, Sharon Murch, remembers her today.

Murch, who still lives in the area, keeps a blog online where she writes about her experiences in the wake of her daughter’s abduction. She shares anecdotes and little stories about times with Michaela, all those years ago. She also writes directly to Michaela, in case her daughter is out there looking for her too.

Those that knew her daughter would sometimes write to Murch. They all share similar memories of Michaela. “They write to me and say how sweet, kind and caring they remember Michaela being back then,” says Murch. “There was a light shining from her.”

Murch’s online presence has attracted a variety of responses. People still write telling her that they think they know what happened. Most are well-intentioned. Some are not.

A few strange people have insinuated themselves into Murch’s life. They seem convinced that they possess some secret, basic intuition that will help the investigation. Some are men, whose passions for finding missing children border on obsession. Some are adult aged women, convinced that they are Michaela themselves. None of them have turned out to be related.

In the last three decades, thousands of leads have piled up in Michaela’s case file. “I”m convinced that somewhere in all those files is the answer to what happened to Michaela,” Murch says. “It’s just a matter of finding the needle in the haystack.”

However, Murch is less than hopeful that police work will be the answer to finding her daughter. At this point, Murch says, “Michaela will have to find herself.” Publicity, she thinks, can be a great ally to families of missing children. The media can help spread information and promote interest once the investigation and local awareness have waned.

Officials from the investigations unit of the Hayward Police Department were reticent regarding any possible progress in the case, as it is classified “Open/Unsolved.” They said it is still being actively investigated and they will continue to follow up on tips provided.

Sharon Murch hopes that if someone is certain, they know what happened to Michaela that they will call in their tip to the police today. If they contacted police back in 1988, they should call it in again.

You can find Murch’s blogs at DearMichaela.com and SeekersRoad.com. Any tips or information regarding Michaela’s case can be phoned into the Hayward Police Department at 800-222-3999.

Juztino (Juice-Tee-Kno) Panella, Counselor/Instructor at Chabot College, does much more than his title would suggest. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, he also serves as a member of the Mental Health Force and provides Mental Health Counseling and crisis intervention as needed. In addition, Juztino is involved with the coordination and leadership development of our Peer Advisors, serves as the Counseling Lead to the First Year Experience program, and is a member of the Student Equity Workgroup.

Andrea Salazar, a student who has worked with Juztino, commented, “I have taken a class with him which allowed me to be comfortable in expressing and communicating with peers, it also helped with reflecting my own life. He is also the main trainer for Peer Advisors, so I am constantly learning new ways to be a better advisor especially in empathetic skills.”

Before starting at Chabot, Juztino spent his early adult life teaching the Italian language, music, and cooking to High School students, as well as organizing travel immersions to his ancestral country of Italy.

“My great-grandfather was a traveling Vigianese musician from the South of Italy, who came to the U.S. with his harp to see if he could make a living. Music, traveling, and sharing love through the food we prepare has always been central to my family. This is why you may see me playing drums with students at an event or carrying a toaster oven into a class to make some traditional bruschetta for students. Gotta keep true to my roots!” Says Juztino.

As a young man, in addition to making a living as the Italian Pied Piper (as his friends jokingly called him – given his primary instrument is the flute), Juztino would volunteer as a meditation and yoga instructor in different jails, and also facilitated groups to formerly incarcerated individuals as part of their recovery process. In fact, it was his work in the jail that inspired Juztino to earn his masters in Counseling and Psychology, which he received in 2009 with the intention to have more skills to deal with the trauma that group members would bring forth.

Two years after his graduation and well into his work interning as a psychotherapist, Juztino heard about an opportunity to play the flute at the Loss & Grief Ceremony that was happening at Chabot College. At the event, he met the Coordinator of Mental Health who happened to be looking for a Mental Health Intern.

Juztino was working on completing the 3000 clinical hours that are needed for licensure and jumped at the opportunity. In 2012 he was hired as an Intern. Shortly after he became a part-time Counselor, and by late 2014, he was hired in his full-time role of Counselor/Instructor.

When interviewed Juztino commented the projects most dear to his heart are the work he does co-facilitating the Rootz2Rise Men’s Group and the Justice Arts Collective with Tommy Reed, Chabot’s UMOJA Director.

“It is such an honor to be able to work with a colleague like Tommy, who shows up with so much heart and love for students. Together we create safe spaces where they can be real with one another, support each other emotionally, and support one another with things like basic needs and access to resources. Then as a by-product of these relationships and their feeling of connection to Chabot, the students naturally do better. They can envision how school will empower them with the tools necessary for their success!” Said Juztino.

Julian Garcia, a Rootz2Rise member, commented, “I learned about myself and life since I joined Rootz2Rise. Juztino has been like a guide who shows you the way but at the same time lets you explore your own walk of life. There was this whole side to humanity I didn’t notice until I started looking and Juztino really brings it out in the way he talks to people, confronts conflicts and has helped me in the men’s group and outside of it.”

Rootz2Rise is a men’s support group founded in 2012 and co-facilitated by Juztino and Tommy. At the meetings, students are encouraged to “check – in” or talk about exactly what and how they are feeling.

As men, we grow up with the idea of bottling up emotions because it is not manly to be in tune with your emotions. Tearing down the barrier of masculinity, Rootz2Rise enables students to effectively communicate in all aspects of life. Each meeting is confidential, so students can share whatever they like. Each session ends with everyone putting a hand in the center and saying a word or phrase that captures the session for them.

“R2R has provided a safe space for me to reflect on myself as well as other issues without feeling judged about being vulnerable.” Joan Cortes, student.

This support group is an open group that invites self-identified males to come any Thursday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in room 552. In addition to weekly meetings, students can also participate in occasional outings and retreats such as the Mendocino Multi-Cultural Mentoring Retreat.

Aside from the real talk, the men at Mendocino engage in activities such as poetry writing, drumming, dance, and storytelling. It was through a rap cypher at Mendocino in 2015 that the award-winning Justice Arts Collective was born. Juztino, Tommy and the Chabot students that year created beats that turned into an hour-long freestyle rap in which dozens of youth were able to express their pain, joy, and resilience in freestyles that received love and recognition from the whole camp.

The music was so healthy for everyone that they decided to bring it back to Chabot to recreate this sort of possibility. In addition, women joined into the process, and together with the R2R men, they began making beats, raps, and songs and within a year had formed the JAC.

Then in Spring of 2017, they recorded a music video of their first song, “From Mt. Tamalpais to Fruitvale Station.” It won first place at My Hero Film Festival in Los Angeles last Spring, was a finalist in the Oakland International Film Festival and is currently being shown in Whales, England at the Cardiff Film Festival.

As written in the credits of their video, “The JAC creates and performs music to express pain and resilience, reveal and challenge systems of oppression, and build a community to protect and celebrate life.”

Taufa Setefano, President of Nessian’s Unite and JAC member, commented, “JAC has influenced me to be not only conscious of what’s going on in the world but also makes me question my involvement in this fight for peace, equality, and justice.”

Another JAC member Joan Cortes, expressed, “The best lesson that the JAC taught me was to think beyond myself.”

With a non-hierarchical structure, decisions are made within a circle with all members input. All members outreach and propose opportunities. You may have seen the JAC perform or lead a workshop at the Stop Violence rallies, Oscar Grant Memorial, Ethnic Studies Summit, UMOJA Conference, Chabot Transfer Day Celebration, JAC Open Mic Night, Sanctuary Celebration, UMOJA Family Day, College Day for Faculty and Staff or at the My Hero Film Festival. Their last performance was on Saturday, May 19, at UC Davis’ Black Family Day.

If you are interested in becoming involved as Juztino says, “Benvenuti, all are welcome.” Just stop by the Student Initiative Center any Thursday between 5 and 8 to come jam and hang out, or get on the mic!

What is beef? Well, it doesn’t come from a cow, and you definitely can’t barbeque it. In the world of hip-hop, beef is when two individuals or crews don’t see eye to eye and can’t find a better way to hash out there differences other than to verbally assault each other with comedic punchlines that attack the ego.

Some of hip-hop’s biggest names have produced classic wars of words from some of the biggest artists like Jay Z vs. Nas, Tupac vs. Biggie Smalls, Lil Kim vs. Foxy Brown, Nicki Minaj vs. Remy Ma and somehow the beef has crossed over to the fast food game. Wendy’s released five diss tracks online by an unknown artist and production team. Twitter fingers, Holding it down, Rest in grease, Clownin and 4 for 4$ are the song titles and are generating buzz among hip-hop heads online.

I talked to Daisy Mendoza a cashier at Wendy’s and asked her if she has heard the diss tracks, and she told me “Yeah I heard. I think it was funny and I liked it. If McDonald’s comes out with better diss tracks we still got the better food.” You can find the Wendy’s diss tracks on youtube.com.

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica claimed that the Pope said there was no hell, but is that outlandish statement based in reality? No, says the Vatican. The Vatican reaffirmed that the souls of sinners are forever doomed to “eternal fire.”

Often fear is criticised as the lowest form of motivation in moral development prompting many Catholic priests to shy away from the old style of fire and brimstone preaching. Although the Catholic church has had debates on whether Hell is a state, a place or both they have been mostly consistent with the Hell existing. Although other Abrahamic religions, like Judaism and some sects of Christianity, deny the existence of hell.

“There is no hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls,” allegedly said Pope Francis who is known for his less dogmatic and more modern approach to Catholicism. Many news outlets to include those in the mainstream media ran with the story.

However, the Vatican and the Pope have made clear that hell is in fact real. The Pope flat-out accused the newspaper of violating the 8th commandment of bearing false witness in an official statement.

The People’s Pope as he is sometimes informally called is known for his unorthodox views. Having previously said a good atheist could go to heaven, gays can potentially go to heaven and implied the catholic church should modernize their views on contraceptives.

I ask Jeremy Xang a three-year sociology major and member of a campus Bible study group what he thought of the alleged Pope’s statement. “Although we do not like to talk about hell. The devil and hell are real, but that also means heaven is real.”

“The devil’s greatest trick is teaching the world he doesn’t exist.” Is a common saying but one thing that is for sure the Catholic will certainly not be teaching it anytime soon.

On Tuesday, March 13, 2018, student’s and staff of Chabot College as well as community members of Hayward and also myself and peer Lorenzo Callabero had the opportunity to attend a Know Your Rights workshop here on campus in building 800 room 810.

The Workshop was broken up into two different components, learning how to deal with immigration officials and providing time to speak with an attorney.

Yoshira Mendez of Centro Legal de la Raza is a “Know Your Rights” Coordinator, and she was the primary person who lead the lecture part of the workshop.

Centro Legal de la Raza is a community-based organization with over 48 years of experience in the Oakland community. What Centro Legal does is provide legal services to low-income individuals all over the Bay Area and The Central Valley.

The reason for the workshop is to fight the fear with preparation.

The workshop started with a powerpoint presentation. In this presentation, we went over the topics including knowing your rights at home, in the streets, and at work.

For the know your rights at home presentation, Mendez went over information such as

Don’t open the door under any circumstances

Don’t give out personal detail

Know the difference between an arrest/search warrant

ICE will try not to make themselves known

Don’t have a conversation with ICE

ICE is not allowed to team up with local law enforcement

For the streets, this information was given out

Don’t lie to ICE officials

Just remain silent and say you have the right to remain silent (Pull out red card)

Ask if you’re being arrested or detained, but don’t answer any questions

If you’re not being arrested, ask if you’re free to leave

AGAIN you have the RIGHT to remain SILENT

ICE is not allowed to enter schools, churches, and hospitals

ICE cannot refuse your right to an attorney

For work, it was instructed that

Unless you work in a public workspace, ICE cannot enter a workplace without a warrant signed by a judge or permission from your employer

At Chabot College, since becoming a sanctuary school if ICE was to come on campus instructors have been instructed to close the door, step outside and let them know that campus security will help them.

After going through those three powerpoints, Yoshi then goes on talking about what would happen if you were to be detained. She goes into detail and the five steps that you should do. Here are those five steps:

IMMEDIATELY ask for a phone call and attorney

Don’t sign any documents if an attorney is not present

Scream or politely say “I am afraid to go back to my country.”

Don’t disclose what country you’re from (don’t show passports, visa card or anything)

Don’t disclose anything when making a phone call to a family member. ICE could be listening. Only tell family members I am detained in this location and the A number.

The A number is an essential key for families and the attorney to know your location. After making a phone call, stay completely silent. Just remember your rights and that they should be respecting your rights.

As the powerpoint ended the final topic that was brought up was the importance of having a safety plan.

You should memorize numbers of at least two family members you trust

Have a plan with your family

Keep all your documentation together and in SAFE location.

Just remember that we do HAVE RIGHTS and that we should advocate for those who are too afraid to speak up for themselves.

The Film Department had a panel of judges, and they determined what films will be screened at the art gallery on April 12, 2018. All of these films were made by students of Chabot College.

The event itself was quite the spectacle. So many students were there to support their peers. Having a well established graphic designer, Jeremy Butler attending the screening also drew in a crowd. He would stay after the event to answer any questions that provided additional insight into his career.

There were a total of eleven films selected to be screened, and there were four films that were nominated in four different categories. Best in Show, Best Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Cinematography.

Winner of “Best in Show” was Zerka Qasemi’s “Mom.” Winner for “Best Editing” was Janmarlo Lising’s “Society’s Loop.” Best Sound Editing was awarded to, “We’ll Meet Again” by Danny Montenegro. Finally for “Best Cinematography,” goes to “Gone to the Coast,” by Clinton Law.

Despite seven other films not winning any awards, they still managed to keep the audience entertained with their creativity and excellence. “Ducky,” a film made by Clinton Law definitely gave the crowd a reaction when they saw a serial killer running about. It was quite humorous to see a rubber ducky commit these cruel acts.

“Layla Oh My Love” a film by Yukimi Tateno was a beautiful film that encapsulates love, friendship, and adventure. The film had also showcased what the city of San Francisco had to offer. It was another crowd favorite.

There was another film that could be interpreted as life is quite dreadful, and it’s best just to end it all. That film was “Visual Poetry” by JC. It captured the turmoil of the actor on screen but ended on a good note. Life didn’t end; it only had just begun.

Chabot College is a place in which it unlocks the potential and growth of all of the students here on campus. The film screening that took place had most definitely shown that.

On April 12, 2018, The Art Lecture Series featured a lecture by Jeremy Butler who is a successful animator and special effects artist. He shared the experiences of his career and offered advice for aspiring animators and those who were just generally interested in the field.

Butler had been an animator for the past 20 years now. Throughout his career, he had the opportunity to work on Featured Films and AAA title games such as Battle: Los Angeles, World of Warcraft, Clash of Clans, and Overwatch.

Butler would then go over the many different programs he would use and compare them to the ones that animators use today. When Butler first started his career the most expensive program, Maya Unlimited cost around $16,000! Nowadays these programs are easily accessible and are much cheaper considering student discounts.

How does one become a successful animator? Butler had answered this in great detail by explaining that one must find their niche. Become really good at one specific thing and search for jobs that tailor to your specific skill set. You also have to take criticism very well. It’s not about how good you are, but how the studio envisioned what they want to be portrayed. Can be frustrating, but you would have to roll with the punches if you want to get ahead of the game. “Understand that you’re there to serve the project, not your ego” Butler stated.

Networking has a huge role in getting employed as well. During the course of your academic career, you’ll never know whom you’ll meet, and they can definitely get you started on your path as an animator.

Once you are established in your field, you would have to keep that skill set sharp. The technology is continually changing, and the software is always updating. To hone these skills is to keep training yourselves in many different ways such as studying motion. This would imply focusing frame by frame studies of live action and understanding shapes. Drawing life itself such as nature, people, and animals. Lastly, to always practice animation with small and simple projects.

Overall, this lecture kept the audience engaged, and they benefited from hearing the experiences from the well established freelance animator, Jeremy Butler.